President Trump Backs Keystone XL & Dakota Access Pipelines

President Donald Trump has outraged environmentalists after signing orders that support two controversial oil pipelines. President Trump ordered the eradication of obstacles to the construction of two major oil and gas pipelines. This comes after Obama’s administration took a passive approach towards the construction of the pipelines after Native Americans and environmentalist protested the developments.

The Keystone XL and the Dakota Access Projects have the support of President Trump, provided that the American steel is used. During the signing process, the president emphasized that the project would create lots of jobs, 28,000 jobs. The President has several financial investments in the Dakota Access Pipeline and the companies behind the construction process.

In a report issued by RT, the construction will be subject to terms and conditions that will be negotiated by his administration as he cited one example being the need for pipe components to be built in the U.S.

There were also other key presidential actions that were signed on Tuesday, such include expediting environmental reviews for critical infrastructure projects and streamlining the extremely cumbersome regulatory process for domestic manufacturing. Trump also pointed out to the nuisance caused by regulatory processes.

It’s worth noting that Tuesday’s move wasn’t technically executive orders but presidential memoranda, an executive action ranked just below but with equal force. A presidential memorandum does not have to be numbered, cite the authority under which it is issued, or include a cost estimate.

In a statement made by White House spokesman Sean Spicer, the Dakota Access Pipeline is 93 percent complete. However, he made it clear that President Trump was willing to sit down with all the parties involved with the pipeline, including Native Americans, and negotiate the best deal that will benefit everyone. The spokesman also said that the new administration intends to kick-off the Keystone XL approval process as soon as possible.

Its no surprise to find out that environmentalist, Native American activists, the American Civil Liberties and a number of Democratic lawmakers were quick to condemn Trump’s decision. Bernie Sanders also vowed to do everything to stop the construction of both pipelines as he cited the causes of burning more fossil fuels as a key reason.